We just renewed our annual subscription to Packaging World and were pleased to be offered a selection of complementary reports. Of course the report "Overview of Anti-Counterfeiting Techniques" caught our eye.  

The report cites the following as common technologies used in packaging for anti-counterfeiting:

• Taggants and chemical markers
• 2D barcodes – printed visibly and invisibly
• Color shifting inks

The report goes on to recommend that brand owners incorporate multi-layered solutions that combine covert and overt technology into their anti-counterfeiting strategies.  The report also talks about the costs of counterfeiting to businesses. Packaging World reported that P&G estimates it loses about $255 million in revenue every year due to counterfeiting and that the packaged goods as a whole lose about $200 Billion.

What struck as was not the numbers or the solutions mentioned, but how much the problems and the solutions recommended have stayed the same. The report was published seven years ago but the truth is very little has changed. The recommended anti-counterfeiting and brand protection strategies for packaging and labeling are still the same.  

The only that has changed is the focus and the case studies. For example, the report has a section that highlighted security in the aftermath of 9/11. Now we highlight terrorism and organized crime as motivators for anti-counterfeiting programs. With the current debt crisis in the US and elsewhere, maybe we will soon start seeing more stories and case studies about using anti-counterfeiting technologies as a way to increase revenue for governments.

Want to learn more about anti-counterfeiting and brand protection technologies? Make an appointment with an InkSure representative.